A federal appeals court put Wisconsin’s fight over gay marriage on a fast track Friday and combined the case with one from Indiana. Expediting the case will mean the issue could be decided by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago before the Nov. 4 election for governor… [Wisconsin] Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen appealed Crabb’s ruling Thursday, and the couples who brought the case immediately asked that the case be consolidated with a similar one from Indiana that the appeals court recently agreed to hear on an expedited basis. Full briefing is due in that case by Aug. 4. Such a short briefing schedule — less than a month — is rare in federal court. The panel that sped up the case consists of Judges Richard Posner, Ann Claire Williams and David Hamilton. Posner and Williams were appointed by President Ronald Reagan, and Hamilton was appointed by President Bill Clinton.

So it looks like we may have a ruling in the Seventh Circuit (Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin) before the end of the year.